A few days later:
Elizabeth sits on her bed, reading her copy of A Streetcar Named Desire. She stares at the pages, unable to concentrate. Glancing at the clock, she realizes she has exactly 26 hours until she faces Mr. Murty again. I cant even concentrate, she thinks, gloomily.
Her mind wonders to a few nights past, when she and Lucky admitted their true feelings. Her face clouds over as she remembers the look on Luckys face as she pulled away from him. The hurt, the sadness . This is all Murtys fault!, she thinks angrily. He raped me, and I will never be the same because of it.
Liz bounds of her bed, heading for the phone. Ive got to end this once and for all. Ive got to get Murty or Lucky and I will never be happy. Ill never be happy.
She picks up the phone and dials. "Hi, its Elizabeth Im okay, you? . Thats good. Listen, I need to see you. Its important No, Ill be alone. I dont want anyone to know about this. Could we meet in the park, by the fountain? . Yes, thats the place. Will you be there? . Okay. Ill see you in half an hour. Bye." Elizabeth places the receiver on the cradle.
She grabs her keys off her desk, and heads out.
* * *
"Im surprised that you asked me to me you, let alone here," a voice calls.
Elizabeth turns. "Thanks for coming, Nikolas."
Nikolas nods. "You sounded urgent on the telephone. Has something happened?"
Elizabeth shakes her head. "Not really its just so complicated," she sighs.
Nik takes a seat on the stone bench. Elizabeth remains standing, facing him. "Would you like to tell me about it? Is that why you phoned me?"
"It happened here, you know," she says softly. "Valentines Day."
Nikolas looks away quickly, before returning his eyes to her face. "Im sorry."
Elizabeth nods. "So am I it was pretty dumb of me. I just stopped off here to finish off my popcorn. I was sitting on that very bench " Her voice trails off, as she flashes back to that night.
Nikolas notices the distant look on her face. "Elizabeth?"
She shakes it off. "Its hard being here, in the place that he raped me. I can almost feel him"
"Would you like to go someplace else? Kellys, or back to Wyndemere? We dont have to stay here."
"Yes, we do," Elizabeth says strongly. "This is the place where I lost a piece of myself, and this is the place where Im going to figure out how to get it back. With your help, if youre willing."
Nikolas watches Elizabeth closely. "Wouldnt you rather have Luckys help?"
"I love Lucky," she states, "and hes helped me a lot. I never would have survived this without him or his Aunt Bobbie. Lucky found me in those bushes over there," she says, pointing, "and he helped to make me whole again. But part of me will never feel safe again until the guy who raped me is in jail."
"What does any of this have to do with me?," Nikolas asks, confused.
"Youre a Cassadine. You have things at your disposal that Lucky and I dont. I know that you and I arent close, I mean, with all this Lucky and Sarah stuff, but you know what happened, and you promised that you wouldnt say anything."
"I havent, and I wont," Nik replies.
Elizabeth smiles. "Thank you. What Im asking for is your help. Tomorrow night, Im going to get the guy who raped me. I need your help to do it."
Nik does a double take. "Wait a minuteare you saying that you know the identity of your attacker?" Elizabeth nods. "Who is it?"
Elizabeth stares at him momentarily before replying. "Mr. Murty."
To be continued...